NASA HUNCH VIDEO PROJECT COMPLETION SELF REFLECTION

PAPER

BRENDON PARES

The overall concept of the film did not really change much from the initial pitch. The pitch
of the film was always going to be about a narrator explaining how the average person normally
can't experience space, and how technology can impact this idea greatly. The only major
change to the overall idea of the film, was the fact that I shifted away from the general idea of
technology, to virtual reality instead. This change was vital, because it introduced a whole new
plethora of ideas, and overall just made more sense to me in terms that allowed people to view
space in an easy and fun way. Switching the main idea to strictly just virtual reality, instead of
being just technology in general, allowed me to solo in on one idea, which allowed my thoughts
and ideas to be more organized.

During the pre-production phase, i had to figure out how to come up with all these ways
to film and explain virtual reality to the average person. Since virtual reality is a relatively new
piece of technology, it was going to be pretty difficult to explain how it works. Through countless
amounts of research, and looking at vr through my parents eyes, i eventually pulled through and
started to write a script that would make sense to most if not all people.The only obstacles i
really had throughout the entire pre-production process, was trying to explain a relatively new
technology to people that may have heard of vr, but never truly grasped what it was truly
capable of. Everything else, including editing, filming, and doing voice overs, was pretty much
seamless all the way through.

Activities that should take place during the production phase including filming, perfecting
your shots and overall making sure your vision is truly seen. During the production phase, I was
mostly just filming myself without anyone else helping / assisting me. There were a few parts
where my mom filmed a certain scene / shot, but overall, I told her specifically what she was
supposed to do. This was so my vision of the film could stay intact, without anyone changing up
how I wanted a scene to be shot. There were little to no obstacles during the production phase. I
had the occasional messing up my lines, or the occasional wrong movement while I was acting.
But in the end, I overcame those challenges, and the film turned out to be pretty good.

Activities that happen during post production include editing, color correction, audio
syncing, adding visual effects and more! Post Production went incredibly smooth for me! From
the start, I already had a vision of how I wanted the film to look. Placing my vision into premiere
pro was not really that hard, as I already had everything planned out in my head. There were
zero to no obstacles during the editing process, which really allowed me to focus on what
needed to be done. My computer that I was editing on worked great, premiere was behaving
incredibly well the days I was using it and all of footage and audio files stayed intact throughout
the duration of the process. Overall, barely any obstacles were ever apparent, and the post-
production process went pretty smoothly.
 My favorite part of the NASA HUNCH production process had to be post for sure. My
favorite part of the production process in general is post, but something about the nasa project
truly put the icing on the cake for me. Editing the NASA project was different from my other
films, as it had a very specific theme tied to it. Space exploration and space in general was a
very interesting theme to edit due to how space has many mysterious moods, sounds and tones
tied to it. It was fun and incredibly interesting looking up all of these different effects, sounds and
video clips that ll revolved around space. It was like a mini scavenger hunt finding all the bits
and pieces necessary to create this film, which I found really exciting. I also love just putting
together all of the raw footage, and imagining what the outcome will ultimately look like.

My strengths overtake my weaknesses in terms of how everything went for this project.
My many strengths included being able to edit really well, having information that makes sense
and is relatable to the viewer and overall just having a really interesting film to watch. Although I
didn’t have many weaknesses, there were some parts of the process that overall either stumped
me or just set me back a little bit. These included green screen difficulties as well as audio
issues. All in all though, the film turned out to be amazing, and I'm really proud of what i’ve
accomplished. I can strengthen my strengths by learning more about editing and improving my
research skills. I can strengthen my weaknesses by having better lighting for my green screen
as well as getting better with syncing my audio and overall getting better with my audio quality in
general.

My program objective was to mention and acknowledge how video production and
engineering students can contribute to the future of space. I did this by telling the viewer that the
video production students can help the future of nasa video production by creating and filming
360 videos for nasa, while the engineering students could create camera mounts and more for
filming use. I think this was incredibly effective in its genre and target audience. Engineering and
Video Production students have a ton of opportunities at nasa, and with this new virtual reality
technology in play, they have more chances to shine than ever before! Even if these students
aren’t interested in NASA, they have gigantic potential, to provide their skillset wherever they
go! My audience reaction was also the way I envisioned it. By showing my project to my family,
they understood how virtual reality technology can change the future for the better, and even
made them want to try virtual reality. In the end, i think my film did an exceptional job at serving
its purpose, and overall showed people how virtual reality can change the world for the better.